NICE has published a new quality standard covering oral health for adults in care homes. It covers dental health and daily mouth care with and without nursing provision and describes high-quality care and priority areas for improvement.
Over 425,000 people in the UK live in care homes and the new quality standard recommends that residents have their oral health needs assessed on admission and recorded in their personal care plans. Residents should also be supported to clean their teeth twice a day and/or their dentures daily.
Dr Paul Batchelor, fellow of the FGDP and a member of the committee which developed the new standard, commented: “The degree of oral health provision in care homes is highly variable, but these basic measures – assessing, recording and daily cleaning – could significantly improve the health and quality of life of residents, and should be applied universally.”
NICE published a clinical guideline on the oral health of adults in care homes last year, and has also produced a quick guide resource for care home managers on improving residents’ oral health. Access the new quality standard here.
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